Well Met
by sweetbreezes
Summary: A wanderer ever since he became an orphan, Sonic the Hedgehog has been running with the wind by his side for several years now. He had believed he needed no more than his pair of feet and freedom to do as he pleased, but a certain group of people may be able to change his mind. / Younger!Boom Sonic the Hedgehog universe, mainly TV series canon with a bit of Rise of Lyric.


**A/N:** Here's one of my first attempts at a multi-chapter story that I'm hoping to actually finish! I was thinking about writing out how Modern!Sonic and Tails met, but then the idea to make it into a Boom!fic came to me and the thought of adding the rest of the gang seemed fun, so here I am! Don't expect anything big or suspenseful from this story, it's meant to show how Sonic met the Boom Crew and how they formed the camaraderie they have in present day.

Another thing that fueled me to write this is because I wanted to write the less social Boom!Sonic we were initially promised prior to the release of RoL, but that never happened. RoL was a disappointing prequel to the TV series, and I wanted to make something somewhat better out of it.

So here's the first chapter, alternatively titled: _Tsundere Twelve Year Old Finds Baby Fox_ :P

 **EDIT: made some much needed editing**

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He didn't have anything in particular against rain. He happened to like it, in fact. But it's one of those 'everything has its place' scenarios, and Sonic hardly ever saw any scenario like that kind of scenario. But that's what rain was to him. It could be relaxing and refreshing, sure, but it wasn't pleasurable to run through a soggy and mud ridden ground. He lost friction and the risk of slipping and tripping was very prevalent. When you're going at a good couple hundred miles per hour, you don't want to go face first against any surface, fun fact. Sonic had learned that the hard way a while ago.

But, of course, the clouds decided to be downers and make it pour all day. The blue hedgehog had been planning to head off to an area he didn't recall seeing before, being told by a traveler that it was wide and beautiful. He didn't need much more information to want to go visit. He was an easily intrigued being, and unexplored landscapes always piqued his interest.

He had still planned to go and take a look, regardless of the rain that had sneaked up on him. Nothing was going to stop him, nothing ever did and nothing ever will. So the cobalt blue youth stretched briefly and shot off, though not at his maximum speed. Again, mud was everywhere and he didn't fancy crashing and getting a broken nose. Last thing he wanted was to deal with a doctor. Or with being stuck in a place where he couldn't even pace till someone tended to him. Or with medicine in general.

The sky was darkened further and further by the minute, the clouds bunching together more as time went by. The rain was endless, or at least it seemed that way. Sonic's face kept being pelted by small raindrops, which weren't so small by the time he had been running for five minutes. But nonetheless, the fastest thing alive couldn't hold back the smile that appeared on his face. It was a rare thing for the young preteen to do with living breathing company, lacking the qualities of a social butterfly. It was obvious to whomever interacted with the hedgehog that he didn't see socialization as an enjoyable thing, but rather a chore. Like a kid with parents and a home that was entrusted with the cleaning of a room, or the disposing of trash. Though Sonic lacked either (though as far as he was concerned he didn't need the latter), that didn't stop him from feeling the same way. No one could run as fast as he could, everyone would slow him up. No one thought like he did, everyone would oppose to his decisions. No one lived forever, everyone perished before he did. At least that was what his past experiences with loved ones proved to him.

His only needed companionship was the wind. It was just as fast as he was, it followed and guided him, like it knew exactly what the adventurer desired. It was immortal, it couldn't perish like living beings could. It wasn't alive, but at the same time, it was. At least, it was to Sonic. This was all he need; all he wanted and desired. The breeze slamming against his face and pushing his quills back, the soft ground beneath his sneakered feet, the adrenaline pumping through his veins.. As far as the azure twelve year old cared, he was never alone. He always claimed he was, and that he prefered being that way because, honestly, if a kid claimed that was the reason as to why he had no friends and spent his days wandering the planet, you'd probably think he was crazy.

Sonic knew he wasn't crazy. He had seen real crazy before, he knew real crazy. He simply depended on the feeling of freedom that carried him over fields and forests, nothing more. Real crazy would be trying to conquer the world by sending out robots to destroy villages and innocent people.

And why was this thought coming to his head? Well, because that 'real crazy' had just been spotted by the hedgehog's emerald green eyes, which narrowed as he sped up to catch up with said human. Yes, human, not an animal.

It took a bit more effort to screech to a halt in the muddy ground, especially with the sharp u-turn Sonic ended up doing to face his enemy. At first it seemed like he would end up making it fine, with both feet having found somewhat of a foot hold for the hedgehog to cross his arms and glare at the scientist. However, as soon as his extremities were starting to lock with one another, the suddenly alarmed daredevil found himself crashing against the ground with an embarrassing squeal. He considered himself lucky that, one, he landed in a somewhat dry area, and, two, he had stopped prior to losing his balance. Still didn't mean he very much enjoyed the cackle the human let out at the pitiful display though..

"Oh, Sonic, I was expecting a better entrance from someone like you!" the moustached madman shook his head in amusement, leaning back on the oval, floating contraption he usually rode around in. Today, in order to keep the water from damaging the transport, it was covered in a red and yellow umbrella, with a big logo flaunting the doctor's face printed on the side.

The blue hedgehog hoisted himself to his knees, glaring daggers at the man coated in a red jacket. The golden straps that held the thing closed over the big belly the mad scientist owned shook as he continued to laugh at the struggle of the youth, who eventually managed to stand up with clenched fists.

"You know me, Doc. Anything but predictable," his tone was dripping with venom, which the overweight human floating in front of him heard through his own laugh. There was a staggering differences between the two voices. The hysterical man's laugh was mocking, to be sure, but not as sharply delivered as Sonic's one line.

"Relax, hedgehog!" the doctor chastised, rolling his eyes behind round, deep blue shades. "I'm not attacking anyone, am I?"

"You're not, but I don't think you're strolling out in the rain for nothin'," shot back the azure hedgehog, his messy quills bristling behind him.

"I am not strolling," the human defended himself, a grin making its way to his face. "I am merely trying to catch up to my army of robots! They went ahead of me. Can you believe the nerve of those things?"

"I knew you were up to no good," hissed Sonic, his ears pinning back and against his head. "You're the one I can't believe the nerve of!"

"Like, I said, I'm not attacking anything! My robots are! Then again, I'm not even sure of that, what with me being delayed by a rude rodent!"

"Well, how about you tell me where they're headed so I can apologize in person," Sonic retorted, at the end of his already short patience.

"Oh come now, I can do it myself! I may not be twelve like certain others, but I'm not yet at the end of my time," sneered the doctor, visibly enjoying how he was making Sonic loose his temper.

The significantly smaller being spat, and not one second later he had jumped, rolled into a spiky ball in midair, and slammed into the egg-shaped mobile the aptly named scientist was using. Said scientist had tried to move to the side, but he had been too busy reveling in his teasing that he had reacted a second too late, and when fighting Sonic every second meant the world.

Sonic heard the sound of crackling wires and sparks as he sprang back to finally land gracefully, his body lowered as if preparing to bounce and attack again. The flying contraption fizzled from a deep cut made by the saw-like quills of the blue blur, a less-than-happy doctor slamming his fists down on a button.

The hedgehog stayed put, though his ears were pricked and alert. It didn't take long for a beeline of robots to rush their way over. Though Sonic was glad they didn't take their sweet time, he was even more glad that now he could see where the robots had been.

"It won't be just that little cut next time, Eggman," threatened the cobalt tween. Though his short stature and general unthreatening look wasn't hostile, the look in his eyes made up for it. Sonic didn't hesitate to immediately dart off, jumping on a robot and effectively making it fall over with a dismembered head and broken wires poking out of its neck. The hedgehog lost little to no momentum as his feet came into contact with the grassy ground again, his arms stretched out behind him as he tried to find where the robots had let mayhem loose.

The way to the village that Sonic ended up stopping at would've been a tediously long path to tread for someone without the ability to run at extreme speeds. But since Sonic was exactly the opposite, he had crossed the distance between Eggman and his destination in a little under five minutes.

The sight he was met with was hardly one for sore eyes. Sonic had never even known there was a village this far away from the ones he knew of, and a part of him became curious as to how the place looked before it had become this. Now barren of robots, the place was broken beyond belief. No house seemed to be still standing, all of them reduced to broken debris strewn across the floor. The hedgehog couldn't help but grimace at it all, though it looked like the population had been minimal, and he could see no bodies laying around. He carefully stepped around the tunnels that he assumed the invading robots had made. Whatever their objective was, the speedster guessed it had something to do with finding an underground object. Maybe the tremors are what made the houses collapse.

If he hadn't felt the ground shake, he really had been a long way away while it all happened. Sonic swallowed a groan of inadequacy, a frown settling on his face. He really hoped no one had been severely hurt, the guilt would be terrible to bear.

"Oh, would'ya look at that!" Sonic turned towards the new voice, his ears twitching. He found himself facing a ferret, who held an unamused glare pointed straight at the speedster. Whoever this was couldn't have been older than twenty, so the already short-for-his-age hedgehog was left in the middle of a staring contest with a giant twice his size.

"Well, if it isn't Sonic the Hedgehog! Great to see you around here! I apologize for the mess. You see, we were attacked by robots a good thirty minutes ago, so I hope you understand," the brown-furred villager's tone was slick with passive aggressiveness, his hands held behind his back.

"Don't worry," snorted the blue blur, walking up to the ferret with indifference in his emerald eyes. "I'm not picky, though it would be nice if you didn't talk to me as if I caused all this." He had been worried at entering the destroyed village, but his temper from his little encounter with Eggman still hadn't mended.

Footsteps that stomped against the floor and demanded to be acknowledged directed the azure wanderer's attention towards the newcomer, a blue cat with a red face. Sonic suspected that wasn't its natural fur color, though.

"You may as well have!" the lady demanded, throwing her hands to her sides. Two kids stood behind her, not looking much older than Sonic. They had their arms crossed across their chests, the taller of the two sparing the hedgehog a glare. "Aren't you the one meant to run fast enough to make sonic booms on command? You had plenty of time to get here, you could've arrived hours ago and stopped at this destruction!"

The youth groaned, shutting his eyes closed for a moment. "Eggman caught me off, alright? I knew he was on his way to do something, but not that he was already doing it. Besides, I didn't know the robots where here, or that this place even existed. I followed the robots when they were coming back to Eggman, how would I have known they were here otherwise?" For someone who rarely spoke, Sonic could very well hold a conversation when he needed to, especially when hanging to his limited patience.

"Couldn't you follow the tremors?" yet another complaining villager piped up, this time coming from Sonic's right and marching up to him with clenched teeth. "They ain't that hard to feel, ya know!"

"I was a long distance away. I may have gotten here quickly, but that doesn't mean I was close by!" Sonic hissed back, his quills stiffening. "I came here to help, not to be accused of.." 'Failure' was going to be the end of his sentence, but the hedgehog really couldn't find it in himself to admit that. He knew their outburst was justified in a way; they had just been literally shaken to the core while laying an unfounded trust on him. He hadn't not come through and had showed up so late.. their fury wasn't without reason. But, again, unfounded trust. How would they have known Sonic was going to show up and kick the robots out of town? How had they even found out his name, with the village being so remotely located?

But even so, the bad loser that was Sonic couldn't help but feel he could've done something. He shifted his gaze to look at the ground, one of his hands tugging at the brown bandana around his neck self-consciously.

The one who had stampeded up to Sonic last, ironically a rhino with a hawaiian t-shirt, narrowed his eyes alike purple flames at the azure hedgehog. A snort blew out of the enraged rhino's nose before he whipped around and turned towards the people, raising both of his arms towards the gathering circle. "Were we really relying on a twelve year old? Really?"

The speedster behind him regained outwards composure quickly, frowning and turning away his head slightly with crossed arms. "S'not my fault you thought I'd show up in the middle of nowhere to fight off robots for ya." The bad loser lingering guilt was still there within him, but his pride was stubborn and refused to back off so easily.

"You're legendary 'round the globe!" Someone amongst the gathered villagers exclaimed, though Sonic did not look up to find out the species of the speaker. It was another person who now hated his guts, why would he need details? "You've trumped Eggman's plans time and time again, sorry for thinking a hero like you could save us! It wouldn't be the first time you've saved someone who was out in the middle of nowhere."

The last bit was pointed out sharply at the youth, though Sonic had to agree. Not that he had done it on purpose, it had been mere coincidence that he had happened to be running past a lonely beach to find an elderly monkey struggling with an Eggman drone. It happened to be fate when he had met a pair of lost rabbits who needed to find their way home without being spotted by the AI of the same creator. Eggman had been oddly spread out lately, and somehow Sonic had managed to track down the few times he had gone rather far. Now that luck decided to ditch his side, however, he hadn't been able to do much about it. Guilt was stiiiill there though. Then again, pride was as well.

"Ever heard of coincidences?" the small hedgehog spat with a huff. "Eggman's been trying out new territory lately, there isn't much I can do to predict it."

Chatter broke off amongst the village folk, through which Sonic remained with a glare and crossed blue arms. He hid his face somewhat in his bandana, half because it was so big that it didn't leave much breathing room and half because of shame. Being scolded by half a village isn't exactly something every kid would very much appreciate.

His foot started to drum against the floor impatiently. Minutes went by and yet they were still making comments at his expense. He guessed the bold ones had been restricted to the ferret, cat and rhino, and the rest were plenty content with judging him quietly. "If you're just gonna keep gossiping, you could at least tell me what I can do to help," the cobalt preteen said, not meeting the gaze of anyone as he walked away from the entrance of the village.

"We know a place we can go to," a more reserved, though no less hostile voice muttered. Sonic was glad to leave the identity as anonymous.

"Gather whatever you want to keep to yourselves from the houses, I'll look around to see if anyone's gotten stuck somewhere," the azure hedgehog instructed, not very much sounding like one due to the authority in his voice. It was far from demanding, but it wasn't feeble or weak like a little kid trying to play the leader role. Odd, since he happened to be just that.

A humorless laugh boomed from behind Sonic, who was already making his way across the destroyed place towards the remains of a house. "Hah! Ya' think we're gonna follow your orders, kid? We'll do as we please, we don't need a failure of a hero to tell us the obvious.

By now, the hedgehog was done with arguing and just wanted to get this over with. The faster he got away from this place, the faster he could stop dealing with these people. With his ears flat and knuckles clenched, he discarded a bit of the rubble until he was sure this mound of dust was not crushing someones ribs.

He proceeded to do the rest without being stopped by anyone, unless their glares and muttering were attempts at doing just that. Sonic growled lividly under his breath in turn, however, picking a few choice words and perhaps colorful language.

The village was evacuated smoothly, and by the time the place was deserted of living beings except blue hedgehogs, Sonic was almost done with scavenging through the debris.

He stopped right before the last mound. He was about to dip his hands inside and dig his way through like he had so often. Prior to him halting his motions, he had been in a sort of autopilot. His mind was processing what had just happened, not being able to shake the feeling of shame and guilt that he felt. Now he snapped out of the trance and found himself dropping to the ground on his tail with a heavy sigh. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the floor and cupping his face in his hands.

Sonic hated seeing others being victims to injustice, to oppression. Oppression was the lack of freedom, the inability to do as one pleases. The inability to live with the single most important thing in the hedgehog's life. He wouldn't be able to run, to feel the wind all around him. He couldn't imagine an existence without it. He'd go crazy without the ability to run around to his heart's content, the ability to move at all. He needed the breeze pushing his body back, only for him to push back even harder and challenge all laws of probability. He wouldn't be Sonic the Hedgehog without it. It was what he loved. It was who he was.

That's why he had started fighting Eggman two years ago. After observing the destruction and chaos the doctor had caused, surprising anger drove him to try and stop the human. He's managed to do so without much fail, luckily. Or, well, fail in the sense that a lot of damage was cause to someone or something. And if something had to be affected, it was only partially damaged. Without counting Sonic, of course. The hedgehog had to figure out ways to fight at ten years old, but at least with the many robots he found he had more than enough to play target practice with.

Now he was skilled enough to take down robots without a hitch, and enough to be a huge thorn in Eggman's side. Confidence built up and pride along with as time went on. Sonic started to find himself pleased with himself at his quickly gaining abilities, aided by the very odd talent of supersonic speed he had been given at birth, but that didn't mean he enjoyed fighting the doctor. No, if it were up to him, the hedgehog would be running in wide open fields that overlooked beautiful expanses of tall trees that made the sunlight refract in just the way that it was a sight to behold. He would be back to full on wandering, with the wind at his side that filled in the gap of two dead parents well enough. He, again, didn't like seeing people be restricted by discrimination. Even though bashing bots worked great at getting adrenaline pumping, the consequences of what could happen refused to leave Sonic's mind. He didn't like seeing people in distress, and if Eggman's dangerous tendencies ended the life of someone? Sonic didn't know what he'd do then.

This was the first time he could remember a mess up of this scale. He had managed to do it before fine, managing to get enough practice before Eggman assaulted a whole village. The doctor had underestimated him greatly and ignored him for the most part, up until he realized the reason as to why he kept finding broken robots everywhere was because a certain blue hedgehog kept sawing through them while his back was turned. Now, after two years of experience, he messed up somehow. He let it slip under his nose somehow and now the village was destroyed. Somehow, he made a mistake. His pride kept insisting otherwise, but his heart was putting up a fair fight with a counterargument. Sure, the people here had been awful, but their anger wasn't without reason. They had trusted him. And he had failed them. What if this happened again, to a village with actually good citizens?

This defeat (it was a defeat in his book) really wasn't doing much to make the hedgehog feel any different emotionally than the still dripping sky. The tween sneezed a drop of rain away away from his nose, his emerald green eyes unfocused and half closed as he stared at the bunch of debris.

"Not exactly how I expected this to go," Sonic muttered, hunched over and still resting his chin on the heels of his bare hands. "Least they could'a done was treat me better than trash." He spat at the end of his sentence, his mouth curling.

He had expected to get silence from the inanimate pile of bits and pieces. Who would expect more from an inanimate object? It hadn't moved before, and it was too small to be able to cover up a grown being. Only a lone wolf could be forgotten in the departure of the village, someone who never associated with other inhabitants.

Sonic started to rethink this as the rugged hill twitched. He was back at work in a flash, digging through the debris as fast as his feet could run. If it was even possible, at the sight of something yellow and fluffy, he sped up. There was someone in there!

It didn't take long for him to uncover the unfortunate soul crushed by the building. Beneath all the broken pieces of wood and hay lay a small fox kit, covered in yellow fur that may have looked golden while clean. Now it was matted and knotted, cuts grazing some of the skin. Bruises were scattered throughout his body too, but it looked like the kit had somehow managed to escape certain death. After all, his chest was rising and falling.

Wait, what was he wrapped in? Were those two tails?

Trying to be careful and gentle, something that was scarcely needed of the blue hedgehog yet he found himself having no trouble with, he hoisted the vulpine up and held him in his arms. This kid couldn't be even half his age, if his size meant anything. Why was he forgotten by the others?

Seeing as how he needed to get a decent look at the fox, Sonic used his feet to kick the rocks and pebbles away from a patch of ground. There wasn't anywhere else that Sonic could lay down the golden fox, and this was better than under the weight of a bunch of debris.

The blue blur placed the cub down, sitting in front of him. His mind raced to think of what to do, his lip being bit into by his teeth. Sonic had never had to bring someone out of a broken house. Whenever Eggman attacked a town, his top priority was getting everyone out, and with his speed that was no problem. The moment Eggman laid eyes on the hedgehog, whatever reason the scientist had behind striking the village was momentarily forgotten in favor of maybe making a dent in the pesky rodent. Again, super speed helped him evade the attacks long enough for everyone to get out safely, and then the real fight began.

That had been the game plan for years, and now he actually had dug up a fox, a pre-schooler aged fox, out of the rubble. He had actually gotten someone hurt. He suddenly felt a bit swick, a twinge of green dawning on his face.

When Sonic recovered and turned to look at the vulpine, he took note of his vicious shaking and matching breaths. The rain made his pelt sticks to his ribs, showing just how thin he was. When was the last time he had been fed? He looked no better off than a skeleton!

But besides the noticeable ribs, what made the blue blur's eyes widen most was that, indeed, this yellow abandoned fox had two tails. Not one, but two. Sonic had no idea this was possible, of course, yet there it was right in front of him. He wasn't aware that he was staring at the two fluffy appendages until he snapped out of an involuntary trance of utter shock and confusion by a groan that came from the cub. Jumping somewhat, the older one of the two gently prodded the kit with a hand, while the other aided in making the fox roll over.

The kid was starting to wake up, moans and whimpers reluctantly being breathed out. Though it only helped in working the hedgehog's nerves, he waited until the fox calmed down a bit before doing anything. He didn't like seeing the fox writhe in what appeared to be pain, physical or mental he didn't know, but he didn't know what to do with the situation.

With a noticeable amount of effort, the kit's eyelids fluttered open. Dull sky blue eyes were revealed, shutting in an attempt to shield out the rain threatening to seep into his eye sockets. Sonic's hand jerked to hover over the fox's face, keeping the rain from doing just that. Maybe he should've cleared a space under a tree..

It took the small vulpine a minute or to react accordingly to the situation, or react at all. He stared blankly at Sonic for seconds before his eyes snapped open completely. He wriggled away from the hedgehog's grasp, fear clear in the way his pelt bristled. He let out a yip and stumbled back, falling on one of his plushy tails and emitting yet another similar sound, this time in a painful manner.

"Woah woah, easy," Sonic tried to reassure the other, frowning slightly. "Ya' look like you've seen a ghost."

But the yellow cub was still trying to shift away from the stranger. He suddenly became aware of the existence of his tails and how they were in clear view. He jumped to his bare feet and wobbled a little, but hid his odd mutation behind himself as much as he could.

"Promise I'm not gonna hurt ya, kid," Sonic continued in his attempt to let the child relax, claiming back his hand and letting it drop at his side. Alright, if the kit didn't want to be touched, Sonic wouldn't touch him. He himself had an issue with physical contact, especially from strangers, so if his experiences were anything like what this fox felt, it would be best to keep his hands to himself. The hedgehog preferred it that way too, having been driven to touch due to pure urgency.

The small cub let out noises of discomfort and fear, trembling still and clearly not close to relaxed. Sonic sighed, shaking his head. At least he had stopped trying to skedaddle, which was a positive in this situation riddled with negatives.

"You alright?" the tween cocked his head at the fox, a twinge of concern tugging at his heart. He wasn't just asking for the cuts and bruises, but also because of how ghastly this kid looked. Why in the world did he look more like a skeleton than a young fox?

It took the cub thirty seconds to reply with a tremulous nod of his head, his big ears drooping. Sonic didn't quite believe him.

"Really, cause you look deadbeat and thin as a stick," Sonic informed bluntly, realizing that maybe he shouldn't have said that once the yellow vulpine winced. Sonic could hold conversations when he needed to, but they never involved him using tact. He knew little of the word, much less how to implement it into social interaction. Maybe that's why he was seen as rude a lot of the time.

"Uh, sorry.." the hedgehog mumbled awkwardly, casting glances sideways at the ruins of the village as soon as the fox in front of him started to realize where they were standing. "How'd you end up stuck under there?"

Silence was the only reply Sonic got from the child, who didn't look all that affected by the crumbled village. His cerulean orbs glanced very briefly at the blue blur before staring at the ground.

In other circumstances, Sonic would've probably started to lose his patience here and start to get the need to demand answers. How was he meant to help the fox out if he was left in the dark? But something within him, something he recognized as a feeling he got whenever a litle kid was involved, made him hold back. He could relate to the lack of wanting to talk too, but the feeling in his chest was a big part of it as well. The only way the hedgehog could describe it as was 'mushy.' It was kind of like when he felt bad for seeing people upset, but amplified and.. softer? He wasn't good at describing things, unless it helped him make a biting retort.

"If you're gonna stand n' do nothin', ya might as well do it under some trees," Sonic angled his head towards the exit of the village, where he spotted the beginnings of a forest marked by pine trees.

The unnamed fox looked in that direction and nodded after a bout of nothing happening between the two. With tight muscles and a shaky breath, the cub started to stumble towards the trees the preteen had pointed at. Sonic trailed behind, his ears twitching. He couldn't hear any robots nearby, so he hoped that meant the coast was clear.

The walk was agonizingly slow for Sonic, but he imagined it to be worse for the kid he was looking down at. He may have found the trek slow and tedious, but the fox was walking with a limp and was no doubt being bothered by the bruises and cuts all over his body. Had Sonic been in his place he wouldn't have minded them much, but this was a kid that had no experience with this. Or so he expected, that is.

The two eventually made it to the closest tree. It stood tall over their heads, hedgehog and fox small enough to get plenty of cover from the rain. The kit was the first to take a seat, quick to bring his legs against his fluffy chest and his twin tails around either side of his shaking frame. He brought his black nose to bury between his knees, and didn't say a word.

The azure hedgehog watched him settle down quietly, tracing idle shapes on the ground with the tip of his bright red sneakers. He was at a loss now. What was he meant to do now? He couldn't get the kit to speak, so how would he find out where he had to take him? Did he get stuck and had to be left behind? Were the villagers really that pissed off at him that they didn't ask for help then? They would rather let a child die?

Sonic took a deep breath to calm his rising anger, scowling without realizing it. There was no reason to think the villagers were that cruel. He couldn't imagine anyone being that horrible, not even Eggman. Besides, maybe something had happened to the kid's parents during the tremors. Just because everyone was anything but pleasant didn't mean the fox's folks were the same case.

Back to being completely oblivious, Sonic decided to sit down across from the fox. The latter jumped slightly, his fur standing on end. He stared with wide eyes and dilated pupils at the speedster, one of his hands holding one of his tails in a death grip.

"Ah.. Hi kid..?" Sonic breathed out tightly, waving awkwardly. The cub stared for a bit longer before, twiddling the fingers of his unoccupied hand sheepishly at the older youth in a greeting.

"What's your name?" Sonic asked, hoping the kit was beginning to open up. He was confused as to why he reacted so negatively to him, but, then again, his village was just shaken to the ground by robots. He must be scared, and he was hardly to blame. Maybe he abided to the usual 'stranger danger' sorta thing.

But the golden kit didn't reply. He instead retreated back to his fort of fluffy fur and stayed there, hiding his face behind his extra tail..

Sonic sighed, slumping forward a bit. "You're not really making this any easier," he commented dryly.

He didn't know if he was relieved or repentant at the whimper the fox gave, pushing his back further against the tree. On one side, he wasn't completely refusing to talk, but on the other side.. well, it's a whimper.

"Didn't mean to make ya uncomfortable, sorry," he apologized as he winced. He really wasn't good at talking to kids, was he? "But I'm trynna help here, and I don't think you want me to keep calling you 'kid'."

The vulpine remained still and silent for a few moments longer before finally mumbling something in reply, "Mil.. Tails... M-My name is Tails.."

The hedgehog nodded, tilting his head as his eyes wandered towards the cub's namesakes. "I can see why."

Almost immediately the fox curled up again against himself, his ears pinning back.

Ah great, what did I say this time? "Not that it's a bad thing or anything, I didn't mean it that way."

He had taken a guess at what had provoked the fox to hide again, and he ended up hitting bullseye. Tails looked up with pure shock in his wide blue eyes, as if what Sonic had said was the last thing the cub expected of him.

After the fox said nothing for a long time again, Sonic shrugged. "I think they're cool, nothin' wrong with em."

That look of amazement refused to leave Tails's face. Sonic would be lying if he said he didn't find it endearing, but he could feel the mushy feeling being the culprit of that. He got it everytime he watched little kids play, but he could never put his finger on what it was.

But just as the hedgehog thought he had reached a milestone with the cub, Tails' eyes snapped into realization and he was back to cowering against the trunk of a pine tree.

I didn't even say anything this time! Sonic groaned quietly in exasperation, though he was puzzled as to how he had triggered that reaction. He had said a compliment, right? Or did he get that mixed up and didn't know what a compliment even was?

A brief questioning of his mental dictionary took up a minute of silence, after which the preteen stood up and took a step towards the fox. "I just wanna help ya' out, Tails. Trust me, I'm not gonna hurt ya."

The yellow child shook his head viciously, shutting his eyes behind his tails. "That's wh-what they all say.."

Sonic's eyes widened in confusion at the desperate tone in his voice, frowning in concern. "And by 'they' you mean..?"

"Everyone.." the small vulpine lamented, sniffling. The older of the two hoped that it was due to sadness rather than from sickness. Though neither option was a good one overall, you gotta choose the lesser of two evils. The hedgehog was no nurse. "They say th-they want to help, but-but.."

It didn't take long for Sonic to start putting the pieces together. Clearly neglected health, starving to death, abandoned in a crumbling building.. Whoever had been taking care of the fox had done a pitiful try, if they had tried at all. Maybe it went further than ignoring basic needs, if Tails's issue with touch was any clue. He could feel his distaste for the villagers grow by the second.

"Well, I'm not like whoever said that before," he spoke with more force in his tone than he had had before, the awkwardness null. "Damn, whoever was takin' care of ya really needs to rethink some choices." His bubbling anger didn't allow him to realize he probably shouldn't have used that word in front of a child.

"No one was takin' care'a me," confessed the cub, looking downcast. "I-I've been on my own for a couple'a months.."

The young hedgehog bristled in alarm at this discovery. "What?!"

His tone had gotten rather loud, and he ended up spooking the fox into a yip and a shiver again. The yellow vulpine hid behind his namesakes again, shaking to the point of almost collapsing to the ground on his side.

Recognizing his mistake, Sonic mentally slapped himself and sighed. He was definitely not cut out for this, he needed someone who had experience with kids, not someone who was not much more than a kid. But in the middle of nowhere that wouldn't happen.

"Sorry, didn't mean to sound like that, heh.." he rubbed the back of his neck, offering an apologetic look at the fox. He hoped it was apologetic, at any rate. Social interaction was one thing, but doing it with a terrified child was another.

Tails looked up and very briefly met the emerald eyes of the other, now laying down on the ground and wrapped between his two furry tails.

"So, uh, why are you alone then? How old even are you?" Sonic asked tentatively, trying to keep his emotions under control.

"M-My.. My mom and dad died," choked out the kit after what seemed like hours. "I've been living on the streets since.." Instead of replying to his last question, the cub held out all five of his left fingers.

The blue blur felt his blood run cold, his breath hitching in his throat. Losing your parents was hard enough, but when you're five years old only to then live without a roof over your head? So that dreaded village populace really was cruel!

"Didn't anyone else help you out after your folks died?" Sonic asked, his eyes as wide as saucers.

He got a sad shake of a vulpine head as a response. "They ignored me," he explained, covering his face again and refusing to make eye contact. "They laughed at me and called me a freak.. None of 'em wanted anything to do with a mutant."

Sonic's chest was a whirlpool of two emotions triggered by the broken tone in the child's voice. He was furious, furious with the village that dared to kick a fox cub out of safety and food simply because of a birth defect (or that seemed to be the reason, at least). The other battling emotion was the same mushy feeling, but rather than being only soft it was couple with ferocity akin to what he felt when fighting Eggman. But rather than wanting to bop something on the head, he wanted to do everything in his power to get the kit to safety.

His brows creased into a frown, green eyes burning like blazes. "Ignore 'em. They're damn fools if they'd treat you like that for something you can't help."

Regardless of the accidental repetition of the curse word, the azure hedgehog didn't waver as he went on, "I'll look after you, 'kay? I'll help you find a home that actually takes care of you."

The kit's marveled gaze was back and finally staring back at the determined ovals of the tween, his ears pricking slightly. Only now did Sonic spot the slowly forming tears in Tails' sky blue eyes.

For a long minute the only sound that threatened to break their attention from each other's eyes was the drumming of the rain on the branches of the pines. But even that became like a very low hum, only to disappear in the mind of the hedgehog and leave complete silence. He wondered if Tails was thinking the same thing, and if he should say something rather than wait longer for the vulpine to speak. Waiting wasn't his favorite thing.

Finally, amongst the sudden return of the drops against the trees, Sonic saw the golden cub's mouth open to form words. "Promise..?"

It wasn't a question as much as a plea. Begging to finally be acknowledged as a living being and not a disaster of nature. Begging to actually have someone care for him, care about him again. Please don't be like everyone else.

And Sonic nodded reassuringly. Unbeknownst to him, however, a small smile had grazed his lips and made his gaze soften into flickering embers dancing amongst the remains of a campfire.

"Promise."


End file.
